Alipay in China

H0cusP0cus

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Anyone can share your experience with using Alipay in China?

I have always been using Alipay for my taobao purchase and I realize I am able to “top up” my Alipay account.

Would I then be able to pay to street vendors using scan and pay?

I have read that Alipay account requires China mobile number and bank to create. But since I already have it from my taobao purchased in the past, would I be able to use it to pay cashless?
 

comex_1

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If you have Alipay, then you can use '余额' for street vendor.otherwise if no money in it, you need to link alipay to China bank debit card for the purchase.
the question now is can you top up your '余额' with your foreign Credit Card?
 
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comex_1

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This Singapore Alipay is totally different from Alipay we mentioned here.
 

cscs3

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https://www.alipay.com.sg/


http://www.todayonline.com/business/impact/alipay-launch-local-wallet-singapore-soon


Alipay in Singapore is created to facilitate your purchases LOCALLY and LAZADA. Mostly benefit to local businesses who can tap on Chinese tourists. And in no way do they intend to help us Singaporeans to use this app in China. Pui!!!

In order to use Alipay, you have to be real name certified. You need to submit your passport copy for verification. Otherwise, I think you need someone to top up your account before you can use it.

Not quite sure on the whole process as so far never try to use it yet.

Guess it will be the same for wechat pay.
 

vofzxy

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hello all
#threadnecromancy

can i ask if alipay , will work in china with foreign credit card ?
 

Upzzzz

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Yes able to add Singapore credit card and ATM as well but you need to be in China to do that. I prefer 微信付款 as 支付宝 is slow, very very slow.

Only plus point for 支付宝 that they give credit rating. If you in biz in China, 支付宝 will be better in that sense.

meaning usable in china too?
 

vofzxy

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Yes able to add Singapore credit card and ATM as well but you need to be in China to do that. I prefer 微信付款 as 支付宝 is slow, very very slow.

Only plus point for 支付宝 that they give credit rating. If you in biz in China, 支付宝 will be better in that sense.

i suppose once it is verified, i can get it top up
through some carousell service as mentioned in other threads right?
 

Mergui219067

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PRCs also pui when they get out of their home country.
They only need not pui in some PRC-tourist shops.
Most of the time they pui 3x everywhere they travel .

[
And in no way do they intend to help us Singaporeans to use this app in China. Pui!!!
 

xiaofan

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Yes able to add Singapore credit card and ATM as well but you need to be in China to do that.

How did you do that?

Hmm, I remember I added the Singapore Credit card in Singapore in AliPay. But then it is useless since we can not top up without a Chinese bank card (linked to a Chinese mobile number for SMS verification). So I just uninstalled AliPay. I am using WeChat and got about RMB1000 in my Wallet through receiving/sending Ang Bao.

Foreigner living in China can easily open a Chinese bank account (and Chinese phone number) and then can use AliPay or WeChat pay by going through real name verification with their passport and Chinese bank account and mobile phone number.

Tourists are not easy to get a Chinese bank account unless loopholes are used. So even if you get Chinese Sim also no use.

Alternative is to use Union Pay. Cash is still king for tourists based on my limited experiences.

Try the following if you do not have Chinese WeChat Pay or AliPay.

1) Visa/MasterCard, especially in big cities or better hotels, limited acceptance

2) Union Pay Credit/Debit card

3) NETSPay with limited acceptance

4) Cash is king

For WeChat it is said that you can add Singapore Credit card and pay for services like Ctrip, 12306, Didi and others but not street vendors.

For WeChat and AliPay, you can get people to help transfer some RMB money into your account and then use the balance 余额 to pay street vendors or other things.
 
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xiaofan

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In order to do real name Authentication, you need a bank card in China.

https://cshall.alipay.com/lab/help_detail.htm?help_id=252740

港澳台、外籍认证对于银行卡的要求
支持认证的银行卡要求为在大陆地区办理的银行卡,开户名需与支付宝填写的信息一致。

Detail steps: for foreigners who have a Chinese bank account
https://walkthechat.com/alipay-foreigners-create-account/

Detail steps of WeChat pay for foreigners who have a Chinese bank account
https://walkthechat.com/wechat-payment-5-reasons-tencent-might-kill-alipay/

I tend to think WeChat China Wallet and Alipay China are meant for people living in China, including Chinese citizens and foreigner working and studying in China.
With the Chinese regulations you need to use real name for bank transactions and that is why the requirement for the real name verification.

Just like Singapore is more and more accepting Union Pay and WeChat China Wallet and Alipay China accout to attract Chinese tourists, more and more places will start to accept Visa/Master Credit/debit card but that takes time. And WeChat has opened up a bit to allow foreign credit/debit card to be added to pay for quite some services like Ctrip, 12306, Didi, etc. Hopefully Alipay will follow.

More and more Chinese service providers will also start to accept foreign credit card, an example is DiDi. But the process takes time.

There are loopholes in WeChat and Alipay so that you can use 3rd party (friends or colleagues who has China WeChat Wallet and Alipay accout, or 3rd party online services, or some shops in China), after that you can use the balance to pay goods and services.

But without real name verification, basically you have to live with various constraints and limitations and it is not really convenient. So in the mean time still prepare enough cash for your trip.
 
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reddotuna

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Alipay Purchase Card?

Has anyone bought Alipay Purchase Card? It's a pre-paid card i'd like to give to my son so he learns how to manage his money. He is always asking for stuff on Taobao an if I give him a pre-paid card with some small value, he has to figure out budgeting. Information is very poor for this online, Alipay website has nothing but I know AXS has this option but dont understand the process (again instructions are bad). I would be grateful for any advice.
 

xiaofan

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Has anyone bought Alipay Purchase Card? It's a pre-paid card i'd like to give to my son so he learns how to manage his money. He is always asking for stuff on Taobao an if I give him a pre-paid card with some small value, he has to figure out budgeting. Information is very poor for this online, Alipay website has nothing but I know AXS has this option but dont understand the process (again instructions are bad). I would be grateful for any advice.

Do not buy. It only works on the web version of Taobao but not the mobile app. It is also very user unfriendly. I bought once as a test and would really not recommend it.

More info if you still want to try.

https://ratex-co.cdn.ampproject.org...ps://ratex.co/blog/post/how-to-taobao-part-1/

https://cshall.alipay.com/lab/help_detail.htm?help_id=201602036936

https://cshall.alipay.com/lab/help_detail.htm?help_id=260846
 
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xiaofan

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From the WeChat Wallet thread.

Very nice move.

https://www.scmp.com/business/artic...-e-wallet-giving-foreigners-access-electronic

Starting immediately, visitors can download Alipay for both iOS and Android devices and register for the international version of the app with their overseas mobile phone numbers.

Visitors can use their international debit or credit cards to load funds onto a prepaid card provided by Bank of Shanghai, it said. The minimum top-up for each card is 100 yuan, with the balance capped at 2,000 yuan. The card is valid for 90 days, after which the balance will be refunded.

As per the reply from that thread, no need to have China visa to top up, even though the photo in the article seems to suggest that China visa is needed.
 

XER

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Search for tour pass in the alipay app and proceed to add your local credit card to top up into the alipay account.

I manage to put in 600RMB with exchange rate of 5.18 using Youtrip and also manage to use the credit to subscribe to youku tv which i wasn't able to previously.
 

natas

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I successfully topped up by using my SG credit card for this tourpass, 200rmb using SGD38.8 . Will try it next week, if no problem will top up more for my week plus trip.
 
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xiaofan

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Search for tour pass in the alipay app and proceed to add your local credit card to top up into the alipay account.

I manage to put in 600RMB with exchange rate of 5.18 using Youtrip and also manage to use the credit to subscribe to youku tv which i wasn't able to previously.

Nice to hear that. So this confirms that it works since you can pay for Youku VIP.
 
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